Saturday, July 30, 2016

Hello. How does one enjoy our short summers when one has to work in a one windowed basement studio? The answer: move outside. Short of actually setting up a tent in my backyard to be able to enjoy some beautiful weather still while working, I did the next best thing. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been cleaning up and Redoing my "Florida Room" (that's what the real estate broker called it) screened porch into my temporary Summer studio. See the video here (https://youtu.be/kHsZ-PclApE).

A before view, commencement of hosing down.

It is still a work in progress as life is keeping me occupied with, well, life! The room consists of one expansive wall of tall screens about 12 feet high and 30 feet long. There is a door to go outside to the backyard as well. The east and west end of the room are accessible through two of the house's bedrooms via French doors. The center of the north wall is available from the main part of the house via sliding glass doors in our primary living area. So this room is visible from the entire dwelling and allows us a great view of the woods at the edge of our property. The light that comes into the house all year long is incredible and helps make our gloomy winters less gray.

The room has a ceiling that is the roof overhang, so it is already partially insulated. Three of the walls are the outside of the house. There is electricity, and running water too. The floor is carpet over a poured concrete base. So it's a great room for three seasons.

Mind you here in this northern hemisphere of a freezer our winters officially begin December 20th or so and go until March. However, in reality, Winter sometimes starts as early as October and may linger into May. Ugghhh! It gets cold here ok. Like freezing. When we get to minus 30, it doesn't matter if its metric or imperial!!! There is no way I can have my studio set up permanently in there, as everything would freeze up. We have to turn off the water by October just in case the water in the pipes would freeze outside. But I love this room and want to enjoy it as much as possible. So every spring I clean it up and set up my temporary studio and office space in it. It is a lot of work because of all the dust, and pollen that accumulates on all of the surfaces and that need to be cleaned up. As luck would have it, this year was an exceptional year for the sticky yellow pollen that sticks to everything. The season began early and lasted up into the last few days of June! I had to clean this room more than three times from top to bottom before I could do any painting.

Some before pictures of the yucky dirt:

Another BeforePicture. So much dust, pollen, and tired looking furniture.

The Make Over Begins:
Having the "Right" tools for the job makes it easier.

Homeright FinishMax Fine Finish HVLP Sprayer

Set up of HomeRight Spray Shelter.

Bye Bye ugly table!

The before and after.

The inspector inspects.

Hmmm, next time, remember to wear closed shoes.

Thank you to HomeRight for their generous gift of the FinishMax Fine Finish HVLP Paint Sprayer, and Spray Shelter. To view and purchase these products you may go here. NOTE: I will not be compensated financially for this.

Friday, July 29, 2016

How to use a Gel Press® made print and some resin from ETI to make jewelry, is the post I have for you today.

Welcome to the ETI/Gel Press® Blog Hop. The Designers for both companies have been creating beautiful projects. Please leave a comment on EACH Blog. Tell us on the Gel Press® Blog and on the Resin Crafts Blog as to which projects you found most interesting or inspiring. One winner will be picked at random, Sunday, July 31, 2016, at 10 pm CST. The winner will get both Petite sets of Gel Press® plates and ETI Jewelry Resin! Hop now through Sunday! Winner must be 18 or over and live in the USA. Good Luck!

I made the print with a coffee filter, acrylic paints, and a stencil. Of course, I used a Gel Press® Reusable printing plate too!

I liked the details of the very center of this special print and decided to use it in the making of this bezel.

Working with resin is easier than it sounds, especially when making a small piece such as jewelry.

I highly recommend beginning your adventure into resin work with a small project like this.

Thank you for stopping by and enjoy the rest of summer with some crafting!

Here is the list of all the links to the many wonderful projects created by the talented Designers of ETI and Gel Press®:
***Remember to please leave a comment on each blog and let ETI and Gel Press know which project(s) is/are your favourite to enter the contest. Thank you.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

******ATTENTION*******ATTENTION******ATTENTION*******There will be a giveaway. Readers may enter to win by posting a comment on this blog (below) and the DCC blog (here) then entering via the Rafflecopter widget. Winner will receive a Dessert Stand. US and Canada only.

Today I have a quick, easy, and gorgeous home decor/storage project to share with you.

It is a display and organizer for the many bottles we ladies have on our vanity's at home. Well, at least I do. I wanted a pretty way to display my various bottles of magic potions (LOL) in my Master bathroom, and I decided to use this Deflecto® product to get the job done. The 3-Tier dessert stand by Deflecto® is meant to hold 24 cupcakes or 41 cake pops. However, as the motto states: "Create. Display. Enjoy."

I started by assembling the display unit as per the included instructions, which are easy to follow. Putting the tiers together was easy, and the material feels durable and flexible.
Once the display assembled, I proceeded to decorate each tier with some faux Pearls, and Clear /gems. Easy Peasy!

I love how it turned out, and it looks fantastic on the counter in my bathroom! Bonus: if I ever want to use it as a cupcake display I still can as it is made easy to clean and durable clear plastic!

******ATTENTION*******ATTENTION******ATTENTION*******There will be a giveaway. Readers may enter to win by posting a comment on this blog (below) and the DCC blog (here) then entering via the Rafflecopter widget. Winner will receive a Dessert Stand. US and Canada only.